Homework Myths
by Dr. Cathy Vatterott
Homework is a long-standing educational tradition so ingrained in our culture that it is
part of common vernacular. The meaning of expressions like “Do your homework before
taking a trip” or “It’s obvious they didn’t do their homework before they presented their
proposal” are clear. Our beliefs about the benefits of homework are also ingrained. “Our
belief in the value of homework is akin to faith” (Kralovec and Buell 2000). Faith,
tradition, and moralistic views of human nature intermingle to influence our beliefs about
homework. But what does that have to do with learning? Perhaps it would be wise to
question some of our more prevalent beliefs about homework.
Belief #1: Homework Teaches Responsibility
One of the most stubborn beliefs is that homework promotes responsibility, discipline and
time management. Responsibility is often a code word for obedience. When we say we
want students to be responsible, are we saying we want them to be obedient—to do what
we want them to do when we want them to do it? By discipline are we asking students to
be self-disciplined—to do something they hate to do because it’s their duty? Does time
management really mean the ability to delay gratification—to work when they want to
play?
True responsibility cannot be coerced. It must be developed by allowing students power
and ownership of tasks (Vatterott 2006). One study indicated that responsibility is learned
only if parents systematically structure and supervise homework with that goal in mind
(Kralovec and Buell 2000). And that is out of our control. If students don’t see a valid
reason for homework, or if they view the task as meaningless, boring, or tedious, they
will often risk failure rather than waste their free time on those tasks. That usually means
teachers must spend as much creative energy designing fun, interesting, and satisfying
homework as they do creating fun, interesting, and satisfying classroom activities.
Inherent in this belief is the assumption that teachers have the right to control children’s
lives outside the school (how arrogant!)—that homework keeps children out of trouble
and that homework is better for children than television or video games. Is it really our job
to be the moral police for our students’ personal lives?
Belief #2: Lots of Homework Is a Sign of a Rigorous Curriculum.
If some homework is good for children, then more homework must be even better. If ten
math problems for homework are good, then forty problems must be better. Many people
equate lots of homework with a tough school, regardless of the type or length of
assignments. This belief is related to the somewhat Victorian idea that hard work is good
for you and that meaningful learning must be painful. More homework gives the
appearance of increased rigor, but “difficulty is often equated to the amount of work done
by students, rather than the complexity and challenge” (Williamson and Johnston 1999).
Ah, if it were only that simple. More time does not necessarily equal more learning. The
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“more is always better” argument ignores quality of work and level of learning required.
Rigor is challenge—but it is not necessarily the same challenge for each student. Given
the diverse nature of students, challenging learning experiences will vary for different
students.
How much homework is too much? Both the PTA and the NEA endorse the “10-minute
rule”—that the maximum amount of homework should not exceed ten minutes per grade
level per night (Vatterott 2005). Coincidently, research shows that achievement declines
when homework exceeds two hours a night, the maximum amount recommended by the 10minute rule for a twelfth grader (Cooper 2001). In addition, recent brain research shows the
importance of downtime and rest for peak learning efficiency (Jensen 2000). Children
benefit when their time outside of school is balanced to include play, productive hobbies,
family time, and downtime (Vatterott 2003).
Belief #3: Good Students Do Their Homework.
The danger in this belief is the inherent goodness we attribute to children who dutifully
complete homework, and the laziness we often attribute to children who don’t complete
homework. If we believe that good students do their homework and lazy students don’t,
then it becomes morally defensible to give failing grades for incomplete homework,
thereby punishing laziness and rewarding virtue. But is lack of virtue the reason many
children don’t do homework? Therein lies the problem.
This belief is damaging because it negatively judges children who don’t complete
homework. In The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens
Children, and Limits Learning, Kralovec and Buell claim the practice of homework today
“entrenches privilege,” causing educational disadvantages for poor and minority children.
Affluent students, students with parents home after school, students with quiet places to
study, extensive home libraries and Internet access, and students with supportive, welleducated parents are more likely to complete homework. Students without supportive
parents (or with single parents overburdened trying to make ends meet), with inadequate
home environments for completing homework, or with parents intellectually unable to help
them, are less likely to complete homework (Vatterott 2006). Are these less-advantaged
students bad? Of course not. When homework causes these less-advantaged students to
receive failing grades, they are being graded on their home support system, and being
penalized for their family and home environment.
It is unfair for homework to cause students to fail. As educators have come to realize this,
more and more schools now provide after-school homework support programs, prohibit
teachers from counting homework in the grade, or require teachers to limit homework to
10% of the grade.
Rethinking Our Beliefs About Homework
How many of our beliefs are based on faith, tradition, or views of human nature and how
many are based on what we know about effective teaching and learning? It is important
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to reflect on what we believe about homework and how those beliefs influence what we
do in our classrooms. As we plan our curriculum, hopefully we will use homework to
support and evaluate learning, not to make moralistic judgments about children.
Works Cited
Cooper, Harris. The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents.
Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press, 2001.
Jensen, Eric. Brain-based Learning. San Diego: The Brain Store, 2000.
Kralovec, Etta, and John Buell. The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens
Children, and Limits Learning. Boston: Beacon Press, 2000.
Vatterott, Cathy. Becoming a Middle Level Teacher. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.
———. “Mom and Dad Aren’t Taking Algebra This Year,” Our Children, October (2005).
———. “There’s Something Wrong with Homework,” Principal, January (2003): 64.
Williamson, Ron and J. Howard Johnston. “Challenging Orthodoxy: An Emerging Agenda for Middle
Level Reform,” Middle School Journal 30, no. 4 (1999): 10-17.
Dr. Cathy Vatterott is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of MissouriSt. Louis and a former principal. She has presented her homework research to over 3000
educators and parents in the United States, Canada, and Europe.